Page 20 of Bride Bargain

“What if I don’t want to get divorced?” I grit out, the chair creaking as I shift my weight. Then every cell in my body goes still, entirely focused on Claire as she reaches into my underwear, her fingertips skating over my hard cock.Yes.She draws me out into the cool air, fingers wrapping around me and giving an experimental squeeze. “What if I never want to get divorced?”

“Then burn those papers.” Claire’s thumb rubs a bead of moisture over my cock. My stomach twists with pleasure—both at the sensations, and the possessive glint in her eye. “I don’t want them either. This isitfor us, Elliot Ramsay. You and me.”

“You and me,” I repeat those sacred words, breaking off with a shocked grunt as Claire’s lips close around my shaft. The wet heat of her is so sudden, overwhelming my senses, and my hips strain to buck up, thrusting into her perfect mouth—

“Mm,” Claire hums, pulling off all too quickly with a shameless pop. Her hand keeps pumping, teasing, twisting, and my pulse thuds madly in my ears as I fight to keep still in the desk chair. “You taste really good.”

I do?

I mean—good. Yes. I am rigorous with my personal hygiene, and I’m very glad that Claire is satisfied that—

“Fuck!” I bark out as she takes me deeper this time, her cheeks hollowing. My baffling, perfect wife sucks like she’s trying to draw out my soul, blonde head bobbing, while I clingonto the arm rests of this chair for dear life, my fingertips bleaching white. Every muscle in my body strains to move.

Keep it together. Hold back. Don’t scare her off.

Claire moans, the vibrations tingling through my nerve endings. I grit out a curse and keep still, a bead of sweat rolling down my spine beneath my shirt.

The slurping sounds she makes… they will haunt my dreams. A world-class concerto could never compare.

“You’re holding back,” Claire says the next time she comes up for breath, her chest rising and falling beneath—is her t-shirt on backward? “Elliot.” My eyes snap back to her face, and then I’m lost again, tumbling into the perfect abyss of Claire. “You’re holding back,” she says again, “but you don’t have to. I like it when you lose control. Remember?”

My fingers flex against the armrests as I replay the memories from last night—the way Claire moaned louder, shook harder, when I let myself get carried away by the moment, losing myself in the wonderland of her body. Christ, I could have licked her pussy from dusk until dawn.

“I…”

Can’t think. Can’t speak. Not with my heart drumming out a war beat, and my muscles trembling with the effort of holding still, and every single sense focused on Claire. Does she really mean that?

“Come on,” she whispers, giving one slow, teasing pump of her wrist. Her eyes sparkle with mischief, and god, she knowsexactlywhat she’s doing. What she’s coaxing out of me. “Live a little. Sometimes it’s good to get messy.”

Right.

Well, then.

I snatch both of her hands in one of my own, holding them easily, and Claire laughs with delight as I lunge up out of the desk chair. It spins away behind me, rattling over thefloorboards, but I barely register that fact as I scoop Claire up from the floor and set her down on the desk. She’s so soft and warm in my arms.

“Is this on backward?” I mutter, plucking at her stripey cotton t-shirt, voicing the question that I can’t quite let go. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. If this piece of clothing is a distraction, there is an obvious solution.

I tear the t-shirt clean off in one go, tossing it over one shoulder, then peel off her bra next. Claire lifts up her hips to help me get the jeans down her thighs, and I toss her sneakers and socks too, wrinkling my nose at how soaked they are.

Panties next, then she’s bare. Fuck.

Claire Montgomery is naked on my desk, bathed in the pale light of morning. Divorce papers crinkle beneath her ass, getting creased and torn as she shifts her weight, and—good.

This is right. This is how things should be.

All is well with the universe again.

Can’t believe I stayed up all last night with an exhausted lawyer on the phone, drawing those papers up, trying to make sure Claire got the best possible deal out of me. What a waste of energy, when if I’d just knocked on her bedroom door, I could have been doingthisall night instead.

Lesson learned. No more panicking and pushing each other away; no more stupid fights over nothing. We’ve both confessed, and there’s no turning back. The knowledge is a balm to my sleep-deprived soul: we’reinthis.

Finally.

I gust out a long breath, pausing to center myself, both hands gripping Claire’s waist. The calm before the storm.

“Come on,” she teases, squeezes her thighs around my hips, her warm body arching to rub against my shirt. “What are you waiting—”

My mouth captures hers, kissing her hard and deep, smothering her breathy sound of surprise. Claire moans and wraps both arms around my neck; she squirms and writhes and kisses me back like I’m the best thing she’s ever felt.

---